#christian conservatism

[feastingonchrist]

I may or may have not spent 12 hours completely hyper-focused listening to videos on theology (debates, opinions on protestant worship, Christian psychology, and Christian denominations) and then visiting the Global Methodist Org website to learn more about it, reading the catechism and seeing which churches in my state/area are also apart of that on their map in case i ever wanna visit a new church when i'm in the area!! I saw my church on the map hehehe and so i went to our website and read a few of the Wesleyan beliefs the church adheres to!)

I did do it..... and i'll do it again. I had so much fun. It brought me joy to talk to God about it after i was finished. I'm obsessed.*

[icedsodapop]

Oh no! Our kids are being empathetic towards the plight of others!! How horrible! (/sarc)

Conservatives now outraged about the idea of teaching kids empathy.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR7fUTaf/

The quiet part couldn't get any louder. She's just... saying this with get full chest.

You can't make this up.

They make fun of Millennials every other week like "Millennials canceling paper towels. Millennials canceling diamonds." Then they go out and try to cancel... kids learning empathy?

So confused.

-fae

[under-clouds-and-stars]

christian conservatives can rage against sexual content in schools and what gets put on tv all they want. good job. keep going.

just be consistent.

shame any self-described "red-blooded conservative Christian man" who reads playboy. who uses onlyfans. who has a lingerie model calendar on the wall of their shop. who walks around in public with obscenely sexual text on their shirts. who takes their 15 year-old son to Hooters. who discuss women like they're sex props while bashing "trans women" for trying to turn womanhood into a costume. who in any way shows that they think that public sexual degeneracy is A OK so long as it isn't the PC lib kind.

eject them out of your groups. call a spade a spade and a pervert a pervert. don't downplay or, even worse, condone this kind of trash just because the people on the other side's stuff is a newer kind filth.

looking the other way, lowering our standards, and accepting these "lesser evils" primed society for the nightmare-clown state it's in right now. hold your people to a damn standard

[scretladyspider]

Here’s a reminder for anyone who thinks that conservatives accept aces: they think we need to be fixed. They think women and feminine people are inherently asexual but they mean it in a way that agency is removed, not as an orientation.

It’s also not a sudden switch. The churches I grew up in preached that sexuality was reserved for your husband, and that if you had boobs (they didn’t recognize anything but cis existed) that your body was inherently tempting, and men’s attraction to you was your responsibility.

Also — while I went to church camp every summer and did Bible Quizzing (I was really good at that actually) and was in the church pageant and youth groups and all of that — I know many people raised in much stricter churches, and that includes stricter purity culture beliefs.

The idea that men and masculine people wouldn’t want sex? Utterly unthinkable. I even remember having conversations in my Christian college with women who wanted to get married who said that part of their marriage was the duty to be sexually available to their husbands.

The body I was raised with was meant for the service of a future husband, not me. And that bled into secular culture (still does). Claiming my aceness was a huge part of claiming agency over my body and healing from the idea that it could only exist for others.

Here’s the thing: in a nutshell, women and feminine people are seen as not wanting sex, but having bodies inherently sexually tempting to men and masculine people. When the two marry, she must give her body to her husband in every way. And yeah, it’s as gross as it sounds.

Just because conservatives didn’t say “asexual” before doesn’t make this rhetoric new. Purity culture has been against anything not based in some 1950s idealized sexuality in marriage for a very long time. Very cis heteronormative— two things aces are not. The only difference is that conservatives are including the word “asexual” in their sexual ethics now.

Wrote an essay about it here.

But yeah it’s not new. They’re just learning how to use more vocabulary to say what they were already saying.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

The world if people stopped applying their understanding of "conservatism" and "religion/christianity" through a very modern, deeply American view onto Death Note (a manga from the Early-mid 2000s which is very much set in the cultural and societal context of early-mid 2000s Japan and all that entails):

[odinsblog]

[probablyasocialecologist]

The full archive—sent to me, and other journalists—contains every email Shupe sent or received, from both of her two email accounts, between 2017 and 2023, the years when she was most active as a member of the organized anti-trans movement. There are years of media, legislative and tactical strategy outlined in those emails; there are conversations in which some of the most well-known TERFs in the movement coordinate strategy and brainstorm talking points. It is a playbook for how anti-trans organizations operate and a compressed history of how the TERF movement joined forces with the Christian right to create the current moment.

Most important, it is a record of how Elisa Rae Shupe was crafted into a weapon; how her narrative was established, edited and eventually taken out of her control, even as her name appeared on testimonies, Supreme Court briefings and highly circulated op-eds. This is the making of a “detransitioner.” More like her are being made every day.

[...]

There is a long history of extremist movements recruiting damaged and isolated individuals to do their dirty work. Yet Shupe’s crusade wrecked her life, and in the end, the movement that elevated her also chewed her up and spat her out without hesitation. There was no big fuck-you-I’m-out moment for Shupe, no definitive point when she knew it was over; the tide just turned on her. A fellow TERF named Karen Davis started publicly attacking Shupe for her supposed autogynephilia. Shupe says she received death threats.

“I was gradually waking up to the fact that, you know, I was just a useful idiot, are the two words I would use,” Shupe tells me. “I got the vibe that they wanted me to help them, they wanted me to use them, but they wouldn’t trust somebody like me around their kids.”

[sophieinwonderland]

"I'm going to have to disagree with the psychiatric community on what a mental illness is." –A Religious Traditionalist

Here was one of the interactions in my r/askconservatives post about plurality:

The religious traditionalist flair on this is just so... unsurprising.

It seems a weird theme with far-right evangelicals that they think they're more qualified to speak on medical matters than actual doctors.

This is the same basis they use to claim being transgender or being gay is a mental illness.

It feels like there shouldn't be this overlap between religion and armchair psychiatry, but yet there is.

Here's my theory: When Christofascists discuss mental disorders, what they actually are talking about is divergences from God's creation.

That there is a model human beings were designed to fit, and anything that strays too far from that model is wrong. The role of medical treatment then is the same as a priest. Rather than being about making the individuals more healthy, it's to help bring you closer to how God meant for you to be made.

If you believe god designed everyone to be a singlet, then anyone being plural must be "mentally ill."

And when the treatment for being transgender is gender-affirming care, that takes you further away from God's model.

These rightwing evangelicals don't care about mental illness. They care about making people be as they think God intended.

(All while their God Himself is canonically plural.)

[o-uncle-newt]

I just got a bit more time in my schedule and I'm hoping to get started on a Sayers-and-Jews reading list, if anyone has any suggestions! I just really feel like I've never seen anyone talk about how WEIRD the apparent received wisdom is of "Sayers was in a relationship with a completely secular Jew who tried to convince her to have premarital sex she was religiously uncomfortable with, which NATURALLY made her start writing about Jews, but a totally different kind of basically fetishized ultra-conservative type than Cournos was." There are clearly missing links there- not an obvious or intuitive connection at all- and I have my own ideas of what they are and am so curious if it's already been written about.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

For 200 years we had sawed and sawed and sawed at the branch we were sitting on. And in the end, much more suddenly than anyone had foreseen, our efforts were rewarded, and down we came. But unfortunately there had been a little mistake…The thing at the bottom was not a bed of roses after all; it was a cesspool full of barbed wire. ... It appears that amputation of the soul isn't just a simple surgical job, like having your appendix out. The wound has a tendency to go septic.

- George Orwell, Notes on the Way

Orwell on post-Christian societies.

[welcometomypov]

I just wanna say that even though I probably disagree with you on just about everything regarding politics, religion, etc, I can't help but admire how level-headed and reasonably you are talking about things. There are a lot of people on the left who come from traumatic or dangerous backgrounds, many linked to conservativism or evangelical christianity, who see their abusive households' views reflected by the GOP establishment and so of course it's easy to collapse into fear and dread and assuming that a second Trump administration will bring about dictatorship and massive amounts of control and persecution, because that's what a lot of people lived with during their childhoods from people who held the same views.

I also had a moment of terror, for precisely that reason-- but then after I thought about it for awhile I recalled some of the things you've already brought up-- especially that, by and large, the goal is to leave more up to states' rights rather than instating federal legislature.

Now, do I wish there were solutions for people living in states that might restrict their rights? Yes. I wish that queer people in red states would have some kind of assistance to move to a blue state, because we are often far more impoverished due to discrimination (especially queer and/or disabled POC, who are some of the most afraid by the result). But the world isn't ending because Trump is president, and I'm grateful for republicans like you who are willing to speak calmly about that and state what is actually happening-- and I hope that you will also listen to those who are genuinely afraid and understand that many of us come from very difficult, painful backgrounds.

Fear and fearmongering has bred hatred and division on both sides, and if liberals wish to change things on their end, they need to not fall into the same trap as the worst of their "enemies." In the end, all of us just want to live our lives, to be able to eat and have safe housing for us and our families, and we should remember that we are all humans. So thank you for not doubling down on the nastiness that we see so much in the political landscape these days.

I just wanna say that even though I probably disagree with you on just about everything regarding politics, religion, etc, I can't help but admire how level-headed and reasonably you are talking about things.

Thank you! I know plenty of people that I disagree with that I can sit down and go- they're pretty good at what they do actually. And I tend to follow them or listen to what they have to say, only because I want to understand the other side.

There are a lot of people on the left who come from traumatic or dangerous backgrounds, many linked to conservativism or evangelical christianity, who see their abusive households' views reflected by the GOP establishment and so of course it's easy to collapse into fear and dread and assuming that a second Trump administration will bring about dictatorship and massive amounts of control and persecution, because that's what a lot of people lived with during their childhoods from people who held the same views.

Oh, yeah. I'm aware of what living in fear is like (chronic anxiety!! yay!!!) and I know that many leftists come from dangerous or harmful situations. I know that there are awful Christians and even Catholics out there, but they aren't practicing in God's love and don't deserve to call themselves such. In the same way that the majority of Democrats aren't craze, violent people, many Christians are the same way.

We are all kind deep down and fighting similar battles, actually.

We just can't see it because we're fighting for different policies.

Do I think Trump has the potential, however minute, of bringing unrest to this country? Yeah. In good and bad ways.

But I really don't see it being the end of the world and I KNOW the Republicans won't stand for a dictatorship. And if they do- they're NOT actually Republican. Republicans lean towards LESS government control, which means keeping one man far AWAY from ruling over everything without prevention.

As far as I know, Trump never outright prosecuted anyone during his first term. I'm still learning and checking the facts, so if I'm wrong, let me know! I definitely want to look into that if he has.

I've been told that people considered or committed suicide due to policies- and I know what it's like to have someone commit suicide due to a difficult situation. So I know how awful it is. And I know that in the end, it was a choice that they made, and that shouldn't be blamed on anyone or anyone else, no matter how tempting it is to attach the pain of their choice to others.

His policies may have made things difficult for people on the left, but some of them made things difficult for people on the right too. That tends to be how a presidency goes. People's lives are affected.

I also had a moment of terror, for precisely that reason-- but then after I thought about it for awhile I recalled some of the things you've already brought up-- especially that, by and large, the goal is to leave more up to states' rights rather than instating federal legislature.

Yep! Like I said before, many Republicans want less interaction and not more. As long as he sticks to his plan to let the states make their own choices on many matters, we'll be content.

(Well, mostly, since there are a variety of different levels of Republicans and their wants and what's important to them)

Now, do I wish there were solutions for people living in states that might restrict their rights? Yes. I wish that queer people in red states would have some kind of assistance to move to a blue state, because we are often far more impoverished due to discrimination (especially queer and/or disabled POC, who are some of the most afraid by the result).

Hey, I have no arguments for letting them or helping them move to states where they feel more safe.

But the world isn't ending because Trump is president, and I'm grateful for republicans like you who are willing to speak calmly about that and state what is actually happening-- and I hope that you will also listen to those who are genuinely afraid and understand that many of us come from very difficult, painful backgrounds.

I absolutely understand and try to take that into account. I am a sinner so I will fail from time to time, but I try.

Happy to talk any time! I won't be changing my views to make others happy, only if I think they need changing. I'm just here to explore the Democrat side and help them understand my own :)

Or any other side for that matter! What's their POV?

But I do want people to know that I don't allow messages of hate, majority cursing, or blantant misinformation to stay on my blog if I can't handle them. I'm not against anyone or intending to call anyone out! I want to be here and discuss things.

But I also have to take my anxiety into account. And it gets triggered when faced with negativity that is violent or cannot be fixed.

Fear and fearmongering has bred hatred and division on both sides, and if liberals wish to change things on their end, they need to not fall into the same trap as the worst of their "enemies."

I think some people may fearmonger online for the Republicans?

But I've seen far more fearmongering among the Democrats, especially this election season. It's honestly a little concerning how deep these fears go, because that has a direct effect on people's lives. There's nothing okay about taking someone with mental health issues and telling them the world could end on November 5th.

I agree! Their fear is bringing out scary-bad qualities and that's why so many people are lying in Democratic areas or leaning towards the Republicans who are a bit more lenient with outside perspectives.

In the end, all of us just want to live our lives, to be able to eat and have safe housing for us and our families, and we should remember that we are all humans. So thank you for not doubling down on the nastiness that we see so much in the political landscape these days.

No problem! I do have strong opinions, but I do my best not to make them nasty opinions. I want the Democrats to talk kindly to me.

Why should I talk evils at them?

It's not what God would want and it's not what I want to do.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

We may never agree on all policies or religious matters, but I'm glad we can agree on these matters!

Thank you for this ask and being so sweet!

[lowcountry-gothic]

[Religious authoritarian parenting] methods have also led to long-lasting psychological impact among the millions and millions of children who grew up in an authoritarian family environment. While the parents who bought into religious authoritarian methods were promised a legacy of happy families full of well-behaved kids, the reality is that many of us who grew up in these households struggle with symptoms that match CPTSD: anxiety, depression, an increased risk for suicidality, and mental and physical health disorders, not to mention strained relationships with our caregivers.

D.L. Mayfield and Krispin Mayfield, STRONGWILLED, Chapter 1: “What is Religious Authoritarian Parenting?”

[guiltyidealist]

In case you haven't had the chance to go through the specifics of Project 25, here's the Wikipedia blurb with some key highlights.

( Please be very alarmed by the statement "we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be" )

[willtheweirdrat]

Not gonna lie, conservative christians just seem like the most miserable people. They've created those pointless boxes they put themselves into, and punish themselves and others if they don't fit perfectly in. My brother in Christ you don't have to do that. It's like you're intentionally locking yourself inside a prison cell for no reason. Chill out.

[odinsblog]

Someone with more time (and honesty, more ability) than me needs to do research and publish an explanation for why all the FUCKING OLD ASS MEN—usually, but not always, old enough to be grandfathers or great grandfathers—on tumblr who love shitty porn, or have diaper fettishes, are always fuck ass conservatives who probably go to church on Sundays and go around irl wagging their fingers at everyone else for not being good people. And please don’t even get me started on the old gay men who are diehard Republicans who love tf outta a political party that hates their fucking guts and wants them dead. And yeah, they’re almost always white.

If you’re looking for thee absolute worst political opinions on anything, these sorry fucks won’t ever let you down.

Can somebody get that published for me stat, please?

[probablyasocialecologist]

The rhetoric that the Nazis used to denounce gay men in the 1930s and 1940s mirrors that coming from the right in the United States today. The words have changed: where the Nazis spoke of seduction, Republicans talk of grooming. But both interpret homosexuality and other forms of queerness as a social contagion. And the history of this animus suggests we must take Republicans’ rhetoric seriously. Theirs is the language of persecution. Make no mistake: the legislators passing laws to ban LGBTQ speech in the classroom and gender-affirming care will not hesitate to criminalize homosexuality or gender nonconformity.

[...]

From the conspiracy-addled world of QAnon, in which a shadowy cabal of pedophiles, juiced on the blood of children, runs the world, to the mendacity of trans-exclusionary radical feminists (or TERFs), a growing segment of the population seems willing to entertain the notion that lesbians, gay men, and trans people are “recruiting” children. The bestseller Irreversible Damage, published in 2020 and reaching audiences well beyond the fringe right, insisted that girls were being seduced by a “transgender craze” that it termed a “contagion.” Just before Pride month, U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has embraced the rhetoric of “grooming,” predicted that in “four or five generations, no one will be straight anymore.”

The project of the right today is not precisely that of the Nazis a century ago. But both movements held in common a desperate desire to control bodies: to define who can have what kind of sex with whom. This is why the fate of abortion rights is so inextricably intertwined with gay rights, why attacks on trans people are attacks on us all, and why laws against miscegenation and laws against sodomy have so often fit hand-in-glove. There is nothing that has scarred social conservatives in this country more than the autonomy of the body that oppressed groups have won in the last seventy years.